Coloradans now have a seventh minor political party to choose from when casting ballots and registering to vote. 

The Colorado Center Party was officially recognized as a minor political party on Wednesday, after at least 1,000 registered voters affiliated with the group by July 1 when it was a qualified political organization, the Secretary of State’s Office announced. 

The Colorado Center Party launched in January 2022, aiming to “bring civility back to politics” and “protect us from the far left and the far right,” according to the party’s website. The Center Party supports abortion and cracking down on polluters, as well as cash bail systems and securing U.S. borders. It describes itself as fiscally responsible and socially inclusive. 

“The Colorado Center Party hopes to attract candidates to run under its banner in the sensible center that are independent minded and would have otherwise run as independents,” the party said in a release Wednesday.

With its official designation, the Center Party may now nominate candidates for offices in general elections, instead of having candidates petition on to the ballot.

“The two major parties have continued to veer out to the extremes of left and right, leaving an opportunity for the Center Party to attract many of the 47% of Colorado’s voters who are unaffiliated and fed up with the hyper-partisan views of the two major parties,” the party said. 

A minor political party is any political party other than Colorado’s two major political parties, Democrat and Republican. The Center Party joins six other minor parties in Colorado: the American Constitution Party, Approval Voting Party, Green Party of Colorado, Libertarian Party of Colorado, No Labels Colorado Party and Unity Party of Colorado.

To maintain its status, the Center Party must either have a candidate for statewide office receive at least 1% of the total votes cast within the last two general elections, or keep 1,000 registered voters affiliated with the party within the last two general elections.